Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveling to Russia next week

May 10 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov next week during a trip to Sochi, Russia, the State Department announced Friday.

Pompeo will arrive Monday and meet with U.S. Embassy officials in Moscow along with American business leaders there. He is also expected to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

On Tuesday, Pompeo is scheduled to meet with Putin and Lavrov to "discuss the full range of bilateral and multilateral challenges."

Russia's state-run Tass news agency reported that Lavrov would meet with Pompeo and that the Kremlin did not rule out a meeting with Putin.

Russia said the discussions will include issues connected with the political standoff in Venezuela, the Syrian civil war and Ukraine.

Moscow said the two sides had agreed to meet during a sidelines meeting Monday at the Arctic Council session in Finland.

Both countries have criticized each other over Venezuela, where the United States supports National Assembly President Juan Gaido, while Russia backs embattled President Nicolas Maduro.

Last week, Lavrov complained that U.S. involvement in Venezuela's internal affairs by supporting Gaido was a violation of international law. Pompeo said American military intervention was still "possible."

The Trump administration had slowed an earlier planned withdrawal of troops from Syria, where Russia has been aiding the Syrian government. The White House said earlier this year that 400 troops will remain in Syria as peacekeepers, against the wishes of Moscow and Damascus.

In March, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned six Russians and several defense entities in connection with Russia's seizure of Ukrainian vessels and sailors in the Kerch Strait in November. American and Western allies voiced opposition to the seizure while Russia claimed the vessels sailed illegally into Russian-controlled waters.